Last year I was hired to do some concept for the S2 Moba Heroes of Newerth. I was tasked with re-imagining one of their characters, Predator, as a demonic monstrosity.

They sent me some reference images and guidelines, and after that I began with a series of silhouettes. Based on their choices and feedback, I then iterated several times on the head, arm/weapon, and the body (not all processes are shown here).

Here are a few more early weapon designs for Shattered. I typically create quick silhouettes such as these and send them over to the team for them to choose one. Sometimes, they may want elements removed or added, or they might like to see an element from one design paired with another. Changes like this don’t take long; I try to give them as many options as I can without wasting time on too many choices or the unnecessary.

As always, here I’m trying to find a delicate balance between classic steampunk over-design and post-apocalyptic/scifi ultra-modernism. Non-functional or absurd bits on the weapons need to be kept to a minimum, but they also can’t look contemporary or futuristic. At the end of the day, though, the design still needs to feel cool. They have to stand out. So, if that means introducing interesting shapes or bending the rules a bit, so be it.

Update! So, I haven’t posted in a while. A lot of that has been due to being terribly busy, as well as dealing with a medical issue that has kept me from working as much as I’d like to. But hopefully the worst is behind me!

Since I’ve posted last, Shattered has been fortunate enough to be the first tabletop game featured on Creative Uncut (which typically posts art for videogames only), and Josh and I also landed an interview with CG Society. In addition to concept and graphic design, I am now assisting with the game’s art direction. We have some excellent artists working on some really cool new pieces that I will mention in upcoming posts.

Here’s a sneak peek of the 2nd round of my new weapon designs for Shattered. The designs I made before ended up being about half of the weapons in the game, so there’s many more to go. This time around, I’ll be sharing some of the initial sketches and process as I go along, instead of only showing the finished product. Stay tuned!